Much of what is attributed to taste is actually a function of smell. By enhancing the smell of a food or beverage, the perceived taste and other experiences associated with that food or beverage may be affected. For example, a person eating a chocolate bar while smelling mint may perceive that the chocolate bar has mint flavoring even if it does not have mint flavoring.
Scratch and sniff type aroma releases are well known. ScentSational Technologies, LLC of Jenkintown, Pa. markets an FDA-approved food grade FEMA-GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) flavors directly into food and beverage packaging components and fragrances into consumer products packaging under the tradename Encapsulated Aroma Release™ technology. It is believed to encapsulate a fragrance is a friable microcapsule. In this regard, the packaging becomes aromatized to enhance the product and overall consumer experience. ScentSational lists that their technology can be applied to all existing manufacturing methods, including blow molding, injection molding, thermoforming, extrusion and in gaskets and liners.
It has been suggested that beverage companies apply a microcapsule type fragrance to the exterior of a beverage can after filling, without specificity to its location on the can.